ABOUT

Assembly is a fast-growing, modern media agency that provides brands with innovative media solutions powered by sophisticated planning and buying technologies. We are nearly 500 creative media minds and advertising technologists in a new breed model that unlocks true value for clients. We are a proud member of the MDC Partners family.

BELIEF

LEADERSHIP

FOOTPRINT

TECHNOLOGY

BELIEF

We believe that creativity is the most powerful driver of competitive advantage and business growth.

We believe that technology has never been more important in unlocking creative potential.

So, we’ve assembled the most creative media minds and advertising technologists in a new breed media model.

We call it media arts + sciences.

LEADERSHIP

We are proud to have a dynamic, diverse and respected set of leaders guiding our company forward.

Steve Farella

Chairman

Steve serves as Chairman of both MDC Media Partners and Assembly. In 2001, Steve co-founded Targetcast, a media agency specifically designed for strong independent brands which was acquired by MDC Partners 10 years later.

Martin Cass

Chief Executive Officer

Martin is responsible for the overall strategic direction and growth of the agency. He brings over 25 years of experience to the role, most recently having served as President of Carat USA.

Jeff Brooks

Chief Commercial Officer

Jeff leads Assembly’s corporate development, media strategy, and creative agency partnerships. Prior to joining assembly, Jeff was most recently CEO of M&C Saatchi New York. Prior to M&C, Jeff was CEO of Euro RSCG and President of Atmosphere BBDO.

Catherine Warburton

Chief Investment Officer

Catherine oversees the agency’s investments across all media channels. Catherine came to us from Fox Sports Media Group where she served as Vice President of Business Development and was previously EVP, Managing Partner, U.S. Integrated Investment at Universal McCann.

Michael Day

Chief Financial Officer

Michael is responsible for the financial management of the agency and also for operational leadership across IT and Real Estate. He brings over 20 years of experience to this role, most recently having served as Global Chief Financial Officer of McCann Healthcare Worldwide. Prior, he spent the bulk of his career within the Publicis Groupe of agencies.

Michael Nicholas

Chief Innovation Officer

Michael is primarily responsible for driving technology innovation through the organization and overseeing the agency’s tech & data stack. Previously Michael served as Chief Strategy Officer at Isobar Us, and EVP, Director of Innovation at Aegis Americas.

Alan Smith

Chief Digital Officer

Alan is responsible for managing the agency’s digital media practice. In this capacity he manages teams across display, programmatic, search, video, social and mobile on behalf of our clients. Alan joined Assembly from the digital agency Essence, where he was Head of North American Media Investment and Programmatic.

Audrey Siegel

Managing Partner

In partnership with Dave, Audrey oversees the day-to-day management client activity as well as staffing and training, ensuring that we are cultivating the next generation of leadership. Previously Audrey was a co-founder of TargetCast, and a Managing Director of Havas’ Media Planning Group.

Dave Leitner

Managing Partner

In partnership with Audrey, Dave oversees the day-to-day management client activity as well as staffing and training, ensuring that we are cultivating the next generation of leadership. Previously Dave was SVP, Group Media Director at MediaVest and held prior client-side roles at Cablevision and Sony.

Neil Smith

EVP, Director of Marketing and Business Development

Neil leads the marketing and business development practices for the agency. He has been turning prospects into happy clients for more than 20 years at world-class creative and media agencies including BPN, McCann and BBH, among others.

Joanne Coffman

EVP of Talent

Joanne oversees Talent and Human Resources where she manages talent acquisition, organizational development, employee relations and health and wellness programs. She joined Assembly from our parent company, MDC Partners, where she spent nearly 7 years in various roles including US Vice President of Talent Evolution.

FOOTPRINT

Our headquarters are in NYC. We currently have 450 full-time employees and offices in 5 U.S. markets.
This footprint allows us to provide clients with true national scale as well as local-market know-how.

TECHNOLOGY

Unlike other media agencies who have bolted on technology systems to legacy models, we have purpose-built our agency around our proprietary tech and data stack. It plans, builds, buys, and measures programmatic media campaigns and also serves as a centralized data and intelligence engine for integrated communications planning.

The benefit of this technology automation is more targeted and effective media plans, more staff spending time on value-enhancing deliverables, and less waste in delivery and cost.

The Media Technology at the core of /+ssembly

APPROACH

Assembly is a full-service integrated media agency. Our capabilities include research, communications strategy, planning and buying across all channels, and advanced analytics. Everything we do is guided by a singular approach. For us this is more than a process, it’s an operating system. It’s how we develop, manage, measure and continuously improve our programs. And it’s an incredibly effective tool for aligning partner agencies towards shared client goals. Rollover to explore.

CLIENTS

We are proud to represent some of the world’s most respected and beloved brands. Please contact us for a full client list, and enjoy the video below to see some of our work in the market.

NEWS

American Legacy Shifts Its Media Business to a New Shop - MediaCom's loss is Assembly's gain

02/17/2015

Assembly is the new agency that plans and buys media for the American Legacy Foundation, whose media spending totals $50 million annually. The assignment includes both traditional and digital media responsibilities. Assembly, a unit of MDC Partners...
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REVOLVING DOOR: Neil Smith Joins Assembly As EVP, Director Of Marketing And Business Development

02/11/2015

Assembly named Neil Smith as executive vice president, director of marketing and business development. Smith will oversee the agency's new business operations... Read Article >

02/06/2015

2 hot new marketing skill sets

01/14/15

Once upon a time media buyers worked hard "to buy spots and dots off of sales people," to quote Martin Cass. But, as he says, that's like finding a needle in a haystack—something people aren't very good at, but machines are. And to those who fear that automated buying is threatening their usefulness, Martin says...
Watch Video >

Executive of the Year: Steve Farella, Assembly

01/13/2015

In a career that spans decades in chronological time but epochs in media buying and planning history, Steve Farella, chairman of MDC Partners' Assembly, has mastered the intricacies of his craft with a grace and infectious enthusiasm that belies how difficult it is to pull off what he’s accomplished.
Read Article >

Who Is Cogent Reports, Taking Over CNBC Audience Measurement From Nielsen?

01/07/2015

As Nielsen and others try to move toward more direct observation of viewership, survey-based measurement is raising some concern among media buyers. "It's like we are going back in time," said Catherine Warburton, chief investment officer, Assembly.
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Have Reach and Frequency Become Irrelevant?

12/17/2014

Why It's Time to Stop Selling Reach and Focus on DPB Media's Strength—Location
Consumers today have far too many content choices available to continue supporting reach and frequency as the primary metrics to buy media, according to Martin Cass, CEO of Assembly and MDC Partners.
Read Article >

MBPT Spotlight: What Does Programmatic Mean for TV: A Snapshot of Options

12/03/2014

As traditional media channels begin to make the move towards programmatic ad buying, there is a question lurking at the back of every marketer’s mind: What does programmatic mean for TV?
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Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry

11/24/2014

Ian Phimister Joins Assembly

11/24/2014

Ian comes from MediaVest where he led a team of researchers to uncover consumer and marketing insights, develop customer targets...
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TV Ad Targeting Gets More Sophisticated

11/20/2014

At the recent OMMA Audience Targeting conference, I moderated a panel on using data and analytics to more effectively reach audiences on TV. The session was packed with knowledgeable people doing leading work in the field...
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11/19/2014

MDC's Assembly Creates and Fills a New Strategic Role

11/13/2014

Paul Beck is joining Assembly, the MDC-owned media agency launched earlier this year, in the new role of director, strategic services.
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MCNs in Hot Pursuit of Brands

10/23/2014

Agencies have long relied on YouTube for its huge reach. It serves a very specific purpose within the online video advertising realm, according to Steve Minichini, managing partner at MDC Partners-owned Assembly.
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10/16/2014

Publishers are selling attention, but are advertisers buying? Turns out even those who support the use of attention minutes see limitations on its adoption. It’s a tempting idea. The Internet is drowning in pageviews...
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25900 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48075

248.354.9700

ATL

Atlanta

55 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd
Suite 350
Atlanta, GA 30308

404.481.2672

CLE

Cleveland

1100 Superior Avenue East
10th Floor
Cleveland, OH 44114

216.771.5700

PROSPECTS

About 18 months ago we started speaking with CMO’s all over the country. They all shared some common frustrations about how the media agency industry wasn’t evolving fast enough to meet their needs.

So we decided to build a company to address that.

If you find yourself agreeing with any of the statements below, we’d love to talk. Rollover to explore.

It's nearly impossible to adapt when you are tied to legacy business models. Assembly is the first scaled media agency to launch in the U.S. in the past decade and is purpose-built for today.

Assembly unlocks the power of our people by automating time-consuming, mundane tasks and freeing up important time to focus on value-enhancing business contributions.

At Assembly we believe you should pay us for the difference we make to your business and we shouldn't be trying to make money with yours. We will show you invoices from all media owners to back up this commitment. Ask your current agency if they'll do the same.

Assembly is born from the creative roots of MDC Partners. We've got world-class creative partners like 72andSunny, CP+B, Anomaly and Vitro. Our main goal is to make ideas bigger and better through media.

Unlike mega-agencies, at Assembly each negotiation is bespoke. All inventory is purchased to align specifically with your brand objectives in mind. We deliver the right inventory at the best price so that clients always come first.